Sliding closure for discharge outlet



April 10, 1956 G. B. DOREY SLIDING CLOSURE FOR DISCHARGE OUTLET 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed July 30, 1947 April 10, 1956 e. B. DOREY SLIDING CLOSURE FOR DISCHARGE OUTLET 2 w m Q h S s v @v a Q mm 3 mm mm 9 wdw Q v m H A M t. S llllllllll T Q w l M II I IHIHU H uw 3 u .0. l ,7 L. #1 I 'P IHI I I HI I UP M E 1 m NI? BIL: I L \I I CIL QAKNRR J4 W vm Wu m1 F I! \N g MN MN U I! Q 0 Q 1: N N H WM HWI Original Filed July 50, 1947 April 10, 1956 G. B. DOREY SLIDING CLOSURE FOR DISCHARGE OUTLET 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed July 30, 1947 x wk mm M iwll United States Patent 9 SLiDING CLOSURE FGR DISCHARGE OUTLET George B. Dorey, Westmount, Quebec, Canada, assignor to Enterprise Railway Equipment Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Original application August 20, 1948, Serial No. 45,419, now Patent No. 2,639,768, dated March 10, 1953, which is a substitute for abandoned application Serial No. 764,713, July 39, 1947. Divided and this application July 25, 1952, Serial No. 300,827

7 Claims. (Cl. 105282) My invention relates to an improvement in load discharging cars and is a division of application Serial No. 45,419, filed August 20, 1948, now Patent No. 2,630,768, issued March 10, 1953, which is a substitute for my abandoned application Serial No. 764,713, filed July 30, 1947. My invention is especially related to that type of hopper car having a discharge outlet and a sliding closure for controlling the discharge of the lading.

. An object of my invention is to provide an improved type of sliding closure for the discharge opening of a hopper car whereby the closure may be easily moved in an opening direction under abnormal conditions such as occurs when the lading packs and adheres to the upper surface of the closure.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wedge shaped closure having its load contacting surface inclined relatively to the surface plane on which it is mounted whereby the load contacting surface of the closure will draw away from the load during its travel in an opening direction.

A specific object of my invention is to provide mechanism which will seal the opening at the outer end of the closure and also provide means for scraping the surface of the closure free of adhering material.

My invention further resides in certain features of construction identified with the positioning of the parts in relation to the car structure to provide safety and convenience of operation.

For further comprehension of my invention reference may be hadto the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view of a portion of a hopper car and showing as much as necessary of the A car structure to illustrate the application of my improved construction thereto.

Figure 2 is an end view on an enlarged scale of the lower portion or" the hopper structure illustrated in Figure 1 as viewed on a line 2-2 of said Figure 1 except that the starting and locking lever is omitted.

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view through the lower portion of a hopper as taken on a line 33 of Figure 1, said view illustrating slightly more than one half of the width of the car. 7

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view on an enlarged scale taken through the lower portion of the hopper and on a line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the combination sealing and scraping member.

Figure 6 is a side view of the member illustrated in Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view taken through the outlet assembly.

Referring now to the drawings wherein my improved construction is shown as applied to a hopper dump car, A indicates one of the rails on which the car is adapted to be mounted; B one of the Wheels of the car; C the hopper structures; D the outlet frames at the bottom of the hopper structures; E the sliding closures associated 2,741,192 Patented Apr. 10, 1956 with the outlet frames; F the starting and locking mechanism which is shown and described in detail in the afore-' said Patent No. 2,630,768; and G the combination sealing and scraping means.

in this embodiment of my invention, my improved construction is shown as applied to a hopper car having a longitudinal center sill 10 extending lengthwise of the car, said center sill including a pair of beam members each having a vertically extending web 11, inwardly directed horizontally extending flange 12 and lower outstanding marginal flange 13. The center sill beam members are surmounted by an inverted V-shaped hood 14 and in the angle defined by the web and lower outstanding fiange there is disposed an inclined shedding plate 15, said plate being welded to the outstanding flange as indicated at 16.

It is understood that the construction of the hopper and side walls is duplicated on the opposite sides of the center sill and inasmuch as the structure on the opposite sides of the car is similar, the description herein will be confined to one hopper structure and its associated outlet structure.

One of the vertical side walls of the car is indicated by the side plate 17 and side bottom angle 15 and the hopper structure C disposed between the center sill and side walls are each defined by transversely extending walls 1919 which slope longitudinally of the car and with inner and outer side hopper walls indicated at 20 and 21 respectively complete a foursided funnel-shaped hopper structure carried by the side wall and center sill respectively. The hopper structures on the respective sides of the center sill are arranged in transversely aligned relation and are so located as to dispose the outlet openings directly above the space between the rails. The pair of transversely aligned hoppers are brought into meeting relation by deflecting the inner hopper walls or sheets 21? of the respective aligned hoppers to present inclined wall sections 22 and vertical wall sections 23 and uniting the latter by rivets 24. Below the vertical wall sections 23 the said inner sheets 20 are continued in an outwardly and downwardly inclined slope as at 25 to provide inclined floor sections. The said inclined floor sections 25 in combination with the outer inclined floor walls 21 and the transversely extending longitudinally sloping floors 19 cooperate to provide a hopper structure having a lower funnel-shaped structure.

The marginal edges of the said respective walls 19, 2t and 25 are spaced apart to present a rectangular discharge opening and positioned in the said opening is the outlet frame D. Said outlet frame D includes an upper attaching section having upwardly and outwardly extending side and end walls which overlie and conform to the shape of the funnel-shaped hopper structure and are secured thereto. Said respective walls which overlie the hopper sheets are indicated at 2 5, 27, 23 and 29 respectively.

The outlet frame D below the attaching wall section is formed with horizontally extending walls 39 and 31 respectively disposed at each end of the hopper outlet and said walls in combination with horizontally extending walls 3232 present a foursided runway on which the closure E is slidably mounted. Said walls 3232 extend inwardly from the lower portion or" the side attaching inclined walls indicated at 27 and 28. The sloping end Wall 29 is slotted at its lower portion to present an elongated opening 33 through which the outer end of the closure E extends.

Below the supporting walls 30, 31 and 32 the frame is extended downwardly for an appreciable distance in order to present a foursided discharge chute of appreciable depth. The chute portion is made up of transversely completely around the chute and below said ledge on two adjacent sides of the frame there is a groove 38. The said ledge 37 and associated grooves are for thepurpose of accommodating the frame of a removable extension chute which is generally employed with the outlets having sliding closures. The frame is applied with two of its sides inserted in the grooves and the other two sides are positioned to abut the outstanding ledge 37 and are clamped thereto.

The sliding closure E is preferably in the form of a casting of appreciable thickness and weight and is mounted for lengthwise movement on the supporting runways 30, 31 and 32 when the closure is in closed position. Longitudinal movement of the closure in an opening and closing direction is preferably effected by interengaging rack and pinion means. The rack is preferably formed to teeth 39 integrally associated with the underside of the closure and the pinion means consist of a pair of pinions 40 adaptedto mesh with the rack teeth, said pinions being non-rotatably mounted on the operating shaft 41 and secured against lengthwise movement by pins 42. The shaft is extended from side to side of the frame and is rotatably mounted in bearings 43 and 44, said bearings being formed integrally with the outlet frame. The hearing 43 is disposed at the inner side of the outlet and bearing 44 on the outer side of the said outlet. The outer end of the shaft is fitted with an operating socket member 45 having a plurality of socket openings adapted to receive a removable operating bar 46 and said openings are disposed at an angle corresponding substantially to the angle f the sloping outer hopper wall. The said socket member at its outer end is provided with an extension in the form of a rectangular shaped wrench receiving head as indicated at 47 whereby a standard hopper car operating wrench may be used instead of the removable operating bar 46. The operating socket 45 and head 47 are spaced well away from the outer side of the outlet in order to permit of convenience of operation from a location adjacent the side of the car and in order to prevent bending of the shaft the outer bearing 44 is extended outwardly lengthwise of the shaft for an appreciable distancebeyond the outer side wall of the frame.

In order to facilitate opening movement of the closure the upper or load contacting surface thereof as indicated at 48 is inclined relatively to the runway surface on which it is supported thereby providing a wedge shaped closure. The upper surface 48 of the closure inclines downwardly in a direction to move said upper surface away from the lading as the said closure is moved outwardly to opened position.

The employment of a wedge shaped closure as a means of offsetting the binding tendency of the load on the closure surface is of importance in this art as with certain types of lading there is a tendency for the lading to pack and adhere with freezing effect to the upper surface of the closure. The importance of my improved construction is well il ustrated in Figure 7 wherein I have indicated by conventional dot and dash lines at '49 the position of the lading when the closure is in fully closed position and the relative position of the upper surface 48 of the closure when the latter is in opened position. It will thus be noted that the longitudinal movement of the closure in an opening direction has the effect of relieving pressure on said closure inasmuch as separation is. made between the load and closure surface as soon as movement commences. It will be appreciated that so-called frozen loads may require the exertion of the extraordinary force 'to initiate opening movement 'of the closure and to this end 1 employ auxiliary starting means F to provide increased mechanical effort in moving the closure a limited distance and effecting a breakaway of the said closure. In its preferred form the said starting means is also utilized for completing the final closing operation of the closure and locking the same against opening movement all as described in the aforesaid Patent No. 2,630,768.

Positioned adjacent to and outwardly of the slotted end wall 29 of the frame and extending contiguously thereto is the combined sealing and scraping member G. Said member G includes a body section 66 extending along the slot 33 above the closure and at each end of the said body portion is an arm 67, said arms 67 are extended outwardly beyond the body portion thereby providing a U- shaped member which disposed in straddling relation with respect to the closure with the respective arms 67 lying at each side of the closure. The said arms are pivotally mounted on pivots 68 which are disposed in the plane of the closure and outwardly beyond the slot 33. The body section 66 is of angular formation with one 'wall 69 extending upwardly from the upper surface of the closure and having the other wall 70 overlying the upper surface of the closure, the said walls 69 and 70 meet in a V- shaped relation thus providing a comparatively sharp edge 71 which extends clear across the closure and operates as a cutting edge to clear the surface of the closure of any material which might lodge thereon. V

The outer surface of wall 69 is of arcuate shape formed on a radius centering about the axis of pivot 68 and the outer surface of wall 29 at its lower portion is of concave shape concentrically disposed with respect to curved wall 69 and is disposed immediately adjacent thereto so that the member G operates as a seal to prevent the entrance of foreign material such as cinders between the said respective curved surfaces. Outstanding from the upper end of wall 29 above the body portion of the sealing member is a wall 72 which extends from side to side of the frame and terminates adjacent the upper margins of inclined side walls 27 and 28.

interposed between the outstanding .wall 72 and the body portion 66 of the sealing member G are springs 7373 which operate to force the said body portion of the sealing member into tight engagement with the closure. The springs are preferably two in number and each spring seats at its lower end on a pivotally mounted T- shaped member 74 which is pivoted at 75 on lugs 7676, the latter being formed integrally with the body portion of the sealing member. Each said member 74 has the pivotally mounted head disposed in the angle presented by the angularly related walls 69 and 70 and extending upwardly from the said head each member is formed with a plunger portion 77 which extends through an opening 78 in the outstanding wall 72 and in this manner the springs are thereby maintained in position.

The exertion of the spring pressure on the sealing member operates to maintain the said member at all times into engagement with the upper surface of the closure and thus seals the opening in the slot 33 which naturally increases in height as the wedge shaped closure is moved outwardly in an opening direction. The pressure exerted by the springs further enhances the elficiency of the sealing member in its capacity as a scraper.

At each side of the frame adjacent the slotted end there are disposed vertical wall sections indicated at 79 and 80 respectively, said walls being disposed intransversely spaced relation with the inner of said walls as indicated at 79 being disposed substantially in alignment with the lower portions of inclined side walls 27 and 28 and the outer of said walls 80 extending downwardly from the upper margin of said side walls 27 and 28.

The said inner walls 79 are disposed adjacent to the sides of the closure and the inner faces thereof actually constitute guides for restraining the said closure against sidewise displacement, said inner walls are extended beyond the ends of the frame proper and attached to said extensions are supplementary guide rails 81 for supporting the closure in open position. The said extended portion of the wall 79 on the outer side of the frame is provided with an upwardly extending projection 82 which constitutes a stop for the lever handle as described in the aforesaid Patent No. 2,630,768. 7

The said outer wall 80 which leads downwardly from the upper margin of the inclined wall 27 is integrally united with sloping end wall 29 and its outstanding wall 72 and is further braced relatively to the inner wall 79 by integrally related transversely extending wall sections 83, the said wall sections 83 are formed with an opening 84 for the reception of the arms 67 of the sealing member, said arms 67-67 being extended outwardly from the body portion of the sealing member to lie between the respective side wall sections 79 and 80. The said transverse wall sections are disposed substantially in alignment with the axis of pivots 68 and consequently the respective walls 79 and 80 also terminate adjacent the said pivots. In order to provide support for the pivots 68 the said walls 79 and 89 are provided with longitudinally extending lugs 86, said lugs project lengthwise beyond the transversely extending walls 83 and provide adequate bearings for the pivots 68.

While I have shown an embodiment of my invention, I contemplate all modifications coming within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In a railway car having a discharge opening including an outlet frame at the opening and a slidably mounted closure for closing the opening; a slot at one end of the frame for the accommodation of the closure therethrough, said closure being of wedge shaped formation and decreasing in depth from the slotted end of the frame to the opposite end of the frame, said slot being of a height to accommodate the maximum thickness of the closure, and means for varying the size of the slotted opening in accordance with the depth of the closure, said means including a pivotally mounted element having an angular formation with side walls meeting in V-shaped relation providing a sharp scraping edge arranged to contact the upper surface of the closure throughout its entire range of movement.

2. In a railway car having a discharge opening including an outlet frame at the opening and a slidably mounted closure for closing the opening; a slot at one end of the frame for the accommodation of the closure therethrough, said closure being of wedge shaped formation and decreasing in depth from the slotted end of the frame to the opposite end of the frame; said slot being of a height to accommodate the maximum thickness of the closure; and means for varying the size of the slotted opening in accordance with the depth of the closure, said means including a movably mounted element having an angular formation with side walls meeting in V-shaped relation providing a sharp scraping edge biased to contact the full width of the upper surface of the closure throughout its entire range of movement.

3. In a railway car having a discharge opening and a sliding closure for the opening, an outlet frame at the opening having at one end a slot through which said closure projects, a scraper extending transversely to the path of movement of said closure along said slot and having an angular formation with side walls meeting in V- shaped relation providing a sharp scraping edge to engage the load contacting surface of said closure for scraping lading therefrom while the same is being moved to open position, support means for said scraper, means pivotally mounted on said frame rockably mounting said support means whereby said scraper is swingable about an axis parallel to said slot, :1 wall extending from said frame and overlying said scraper, plunger means pivoted to said scraper and extending through said wall and guided thereby, and coil compression spring means surrounding said plunger means and reacting between said wall and said scraper to bias the scraping edge thereof into engagement with said surface.

4. In a railway car having a discharge opening and a sliding closure for the opening, said closure having a lading contacting surface, an outlet frame at the opening having a wall at one end provided with a slot through which said closure projects, a scraper extending transversely to the path of movement of and beyond the sides of said closure along said slot and at the side of said wall away from which said closure moves to open position, said scraper having a scraping edge to engage said load contacting surface of said closure for scraping lading therefrom while the same is being moved to open position, arms extending from the ends of said scraper and disposed along the sides of said closure, and pivot means interconnecting said arms and said frame whereby said scraper is swingable about an axis parallel to said slot.

5. In a railway car having a discharge opening and a sliding closure for the opening, said closure having a lading contacting surface, an outlet frame at the opening having a wall at one end provided with a slot through which said closure projects, a scraper extending transversely to the path of movement of and beyond the sides of said closure along said slot and at the side of said wall away from which said closure moves to open position, said scraper having a scraping edge to engage said load contacting surface of said closure for scraping lading therefrom while the same is being moved to open position, arms extending from the ends of said scraper and disposed along the sides of said closure, pivot means interconnecting said arms and said frame whereby said scraper is swingable about an axis parallel to said slot, an outstanding wall from said end wall overlying said scraper, plunger means pivoted to said scraper and extending through said outstanding wall and guided thereby, and coil compression spring means surrounding said plunger means and reacting between said outstanding wall and said scraper to bias said scraping edge into engagement with said load contacting surface.

6. In a railway car having a discharge opening and a sliding closure for the opening, said closure having a lading contacting surface, an outlet frame at the opening having a wall at one end provided with a slot through which said closure projects, a scraper extending transversely to the path of movement of and beyond the sides of said closure along said slot and at the side of said wall away from which said closure moves to open position, said scraper having a scraping edge to engage said load contacting surface of said closure for scraping lading therefrom while the same is being moved to open position, arms extending from the ends of said scraper and disposed along the sides of said closure, and pivot means interconnecting said arms and said frame whereby said scraper is swingable about an axis parallel to said slot, said wall and said scraper having interfitting arcuate surfaces the center of curvature of which coincides with said axis.

7. In a railway car having a discharge opening and a sliding closure for the opening, said closure having a lading contacting surface, an outlet frame at the opening having a wall at one end provided with a slot through which said closure projects, a scraper extending transversely to the path of movement of and beyond the sides of said closure along said slot and at the side of said wall away from which said closure moves to open position, said scraper having a scraping edge to engage said load contacting surface of said closure for scraping lading therefrom while the same is being moved to open position, arms extending from the ends of said scraper and disposed along the sides of said closure, pivot means interconnecting said arms and said frame whereby said scraper is swingable about an axis parallel to said slot, said wall and said scraper having interfitting arcuate surfaces the center of curvature of which coincides with said axis, an

tending through said outstanding wall arid g'ilided new by, and coil coniprssionsiar'ifigfiien's shfrofihding said lunger means an reacting Befwe'efi saw out'standing wall and Said scraper to'bias said sraping edge into engagemefit with said load colitactiiig surface;

Rfrences' Gited: in-the fii ohm s" 5mm UNI. 'TEli- STATES EAIENTS Z 1,234,107 Hoppe: Nov; 5, 1918 2,386,702 MqBrid Oct. 9; 1945 2,515,137 7 Schall: et: a1: 1 July 11,. 1950 Dorey Mar. 10, 1953 

